Irate Pirate Update

Here's a quick update on the Around the Bend Across the Pond quilt tops I have been working on. Our group is called ARRR8 (which in my head has become Irate Pirate), and we are doing a Round Robin Quilt. This is an offshoot of the Old Red Barn Co group on Flickr and you can read more about it here.

This is Greta's quilt. She wants orange, turquoise and grey, but otherwise we get a free hand. Greta did the centre star and Dolores did the thread spools and the scrappy stripes. Then Jo did the next border, with those awesome pieced stars.

And then I was up next. First off I decided I wanted a bit more contrast with the colours, so I added the thin charcoal strip. Then I ummed and ahhed and eventually decided to do that diamond border made of HST blocks. It was going to go all the way round with something different on the corner blocks. But I miscalculated and didn't have enough blocks (distracted by something shiny probably).

So I decided to take up the thread spool motif and made 6 of these and scrappily wedged them in to the short edge. This is the first time I have pieced these - they are fun, fun, fun! One of the nice things about working on these tops is getting a chance to try out some techniques without committing to a whole quilt.

So that was this month's quilt. Last month I worked on Dolores's top. She is going for a very scrappy affair and wants us to use any colours from her centre piece.

All the autumnal colours were making me think of trees and I had an idea that I would applique circle tree tops above those thin scrappy stripes above. But in the end it looked way too busy and squashed in. So instead I needle-turn appliqued a different scrappy leaf on to each corner square. Maybe Pam will attempt the treetops in her round, or maybe she will have a much better idea! The other thing I love about this round robin is that you end up with a stake in every quilt in the group as we will each have contributed a row. So not only are you looking out for what is happening with your quilt but also all the other quilts you have worked on.

And what is happening to my quilt? Well here it is! Just 2 rounds so far but they are both stunning. Pam pieced, yes pieced, that red ribbony border and Christine also pieced those amazing leaves and that gorgeous saw tooth! I just adore all the black and can't wait to see what happens next!

And one more piece of exciting news... tonight I am off to Glasgow to join in the West Coast (of Scotland) Modern Quilt Guild!! That means I get to meet Katy, Fiona and Lynz!!! And have a drink as we are meeting in a bar and I am getting the train!

I will let you know how it goes...